Circuit-breaker.



F. H. KHOGER.

CSHCUIT BREAKER.

APPLICAHON FILED AUG.3I. I914.

Patented Sept. 4, 1917.

WITNESSES Z WM 3 M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED H. KIBOGER, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 SAMUEL M. KINTNER AND HALSEY M. BARRETT, RECEIVERS FOR NATIONAL ELECTRIC SIGNALING COMPANY,

OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CIRCUIT-BREAKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 1917.

Application filed August 31, 1914. Serial No. 859,481.

To. all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED H. Knoonn, a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Circuit Breakers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to electric switches and more particularly to circuit breakers for handlin heavy current such as usedin wireless te egraphy transmitters. Its primary objects are to provide for uniform wear'of the contact surfaces and for more perfect contact and to prevent the sticking of the contact. I have illustrated the invention in a preferred form in the accompanying drawing which is a vertical central section of the contact switch and mechanism for moving it.

The chief difiiculty in the now known keys and relays, especially when carrying heavy currents, is that they overheat and stickand that when new or freshly adjusted the surfaces do not fit properly and after wearing to a fit the uneven wear again brings about the overheating condition. I overcome this difficulty by relatively rotating the contact members in roportion to the amount of use and there y keep the surfaces in perfect fit and assist in cooling them.

Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the switch and Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 Fig. 1.

In the drawing supposing the electrodes 1 and 3 to be parts of a circuit carrying heavy current to be made and broken, the contact breaker 2 is made in the form of a disk having a raised eriphery 2 as shown. It is mounted on a exible shaft 4 secured to an iron plunger 5 in the solenoid coil 6 whose leads 7 and 8 it will be understood are in circuit with an ordinary telegraph key. The shaft 4 carries also a small disk 9 which is normally held in depressed position by ball-bearing device 10 on a flexible leaf spring 11, fixed at its outer end. The lower end of the shaft 4 has a bearing in the top of the box 12 and is provided with a friction disk 13 which in turn rests upon another disk 14 fixed on a shaft provided with side spurs l5 traveling in spiral grooves 16 in the casing 12 and normally urged in an upward direction by spiral spring 17. The shaft 4: is flexible in order to allow it to have a slight lateral motion to compensate for the swinging movement of the spring 11 on its fixed support.

Ordinarily the spring 11 overcomes the sprin 17 and the parts remain in the position s own. When the circuit 7, 8, is closed energizing the coil 6, the plun er 5 rises and makes the contact 1, 2, 3. fn this motion disk 13 rises ofi the disk 14 by reason of the inertia of the latter and the quick movement of the shaft 4. The main con tact 2 therefore moves upward in a straight line and the friction disk 14: follows up and afterward comes into contact with disk 18. Now when the solenoid 6 becomes inactive, the weight 5 and spring 11 push the shaft 4 downward against the disk 14 and spring 17 and since the disk 15 must revolve by reason of the spurs 15 and shaft 4 is free to revolve in the ballbearings 10, the shaft 4: and the main electrode 2 likewise revolve to a new position.

This operation it will be understood causes a gradual rotation of the disk 2 each time it is reciprocated and such action in conjunction with the flexible shaft 4 causes an even and continual wear of the main contacts 1, 2, 3, and meantime a perfect fit of the parts and avoids overheating and sticking.

I prefer to make the contacts 1 and 3 of silver. It is of course not necessary to my invention that the particular device shown for rotating the contact breaker be employed. The primary idea is the rotation of the disk 4 in proportion to the amount of use.

What I claim is 1. An electric switch having fixed contacts, a reciprocatory shaft carrying a member adapted to bridge said fixed contacts, a spring for biasing said shaft to remove the bridging member-from the fixed contacts, means connecting said shaft and spring arranged to permit relative rotary movement but preventing relative longitudinal movement therebetween, means for actuating said shaft to close the switch, and rotatable means arranged to produce axial rotation of the shaft during its retracting movement to vary the position of the contact surfaces of the bridging member and also permitting free movement of said shaft in circuit-closas d nes i 2. An electric switch having fixed contacts, a member for bridging said contacts, a shaft upon which said member is mounted, an abutment friction disk adjacent one,

end of said shaft, means for rotating said ,7

frlicfiiqn d sk a it mews l udina l n either direction, means tending to bias the friction disk into engagement with'the' shaft, means for movingsaid shaft longitudinally in advance of the friction disk t'o .closethe switchfand means for moving said shaft in the opposite direction to open 'the'switchand sin'iultaneously' cause it to engage the friction disk andth ereby caiise rotation of the shaft.

'3. An electric switch having a stationary contact, a, movable member carrying a contact, cooperating with the stationary contact, means "for moving said member to close the switch, and means for biasing said member 'in the opposite direction to normally maintain the switch open, both of said means being arranged "to permit rotative movement of the member, and means normally biased into frictional engagement with said movable member, said latter'ineans being' rran ed so that 'it' rotates when moved ongitudinally, whereby the movable switch member is rotated when moved in a direction to engage said latter means and move the same, said movable member being automatically removed from frictional en'- gagement with the rotary means when moved in the opposite direction due to the retarded longitudinal movement of the rotary means caused by its arrangement for rotary movement.

4'. An electric switch having a fixed contact, a 'i'nov'able member carrying a contact adapted to engage said fixed contact, friction means adjacent the member arranged to have both rotary and longitudinal movement and norma llybiased' into engagement with said member, means for moving said meml ier longitudinally at a relatively rapid rate 'so' as to disconnect the member from the' friction means and close the switch, said friction means tending to follow said member and subsequently engage the same, and means for moving said'shaft in the opposite direction whereby, as the switch is opened, the engagement of the shaft with the friction means causes the shaft to be rotated.

'5'. An electric switch having a fixed contact, a 'i'novable'membe'r carrying a contact co'ifer'ating' with the fixed contact, longitudinally movable means adjacent the movable member arranged to be engaged and moved bysaid member as 1t is moved to open the-switch, said means being biased to normally engage the movable member, mehanism for causing said means to rotate as it i mQYQ pns mid aallv, m an a moving the movable member longitudinally to close the switch, the'mecha nis'm for rotating the means engaging the "movable member being arranged to retard the longitudinal movement thereof so that as the movable member is moved it is di ngaged from said means and may move'zeely to close the switch.

6. An electric switch having a stationary contact, a movable member carrying a contact cooperating with said stationary obntact, means for moving said member to close the switch, spring means arranged to bias said member to open the switch and permit rotation of said member, longitudinally movable means arranged to be engaged and moved by said member as it is moved to open the switch, mechanism for rotating said longitudinally movable means as it is' moved 'longi-tudinally'to thereby rotate the member and its contact, said mechanism serving to retard the longitudinal movement of said means to permit the movable mem her to be disengaged therefrom and moved freely when moved to close the switch, and means for moving the longitudinally movable means toward the-movable member after the switch is closed; to place said lo'ngitudinally movable means in position a; be engaged by said movable member when the switch is opened. l

7. An electric switch having a fixed contact, a movable member carrying a contact cooperating with the fixed contact, means for moving said member to close the switch, means normally biasing the member to open the switch, both of said means being 'ar ranged to permit rotation of'thc member-ya friction disk carried by the movable meniber, a second friction disk normally biased by a spring into engagement with the first, mechanism for causing the second friction disk to rotate as it moved longitudinally, said mechanism acting to reta rd 'the lon gitndinal movement of the disk whereby when the movablemember of the switch is actu ated to close the switch the friction disks are disei'zgag'ed to permit free closing movement and when the movable member is moved to open the switch, the friction disk carried thereby engages the second friction dislcthereby causing the movable member to be rotated.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

FRED H. KRQGER,

VVitn ses:

ORNELIUS J. KULr, WILLIAM HUGHES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the "Commissioner ot natentg Washington, D. 0." 

